Gold case pair cleared

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After two decades of proclaiming their innocence, the brothers convicted of the infamous Perth Mint swindle were exonerated by an appeal court yesterday.

But the success of Ray and Peter Mickelberg's eighth appeal against their convictions for defrauding the mint of $653,000 in gold bullion is unlikely to put an end to controversy surrounding the case, with police still pointing to the body of evidence against the brothers.

The Mickelbergs were absent from the West Australian Court of Criminal Appeal when their appeal was upheld. Chief Justice David Malcolm and Justice Christopher Steytler agreed that the conviction should be quashed and no retrial ordered. Justice Michael Murray dissented on the grounds that no miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Ray Mickelberg served eight years of a 20-year sentence and Peter served six years of a 14-year term after being found guilty of the 1982 theft.

A third brother, Brian, had his conviction overturned after nine months behind bars. He died in a light aircraft crash in 1986.

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Ray and Peter's latest appeal centred largely on the June 2002 admission by former detective Tony Lewandowski that he and his superior, Don Hancock, had framed all three brothers.